Crosstie



Dec. 14 1926.

W. G. COUGHLIN CROSSTIE Filed March 29, 1926 2 Sheeis-Sheet 1 (how ma Dec 14 1926.

' 1,610,601 w. G. COUGHLIN CRQSSTIE Filed March 29, 1926 2 sheat s-Sheet 2 awueutoz Patented Dec. 14, 1926.

WILLIAM G. couerti rni or Panama Pair;- PEmsYtvaNra;

caossrmi Application'filed March 29, 1926. Serial No: 98,384.

The present invention relates to railways and particularly to railway cross ties.

An object of the" invention is to produce a metal cross tie adapted to be formed from old and discarded .rails.

Another object is toproduce a crosstie of this chai acter havin'g-a base of such form as to effect drainage from points under the 1 rails. I x

A further object is: to produce a metal cross tie adapted to facilitate resurfacingthe rails, or bringing them to a true level.

For effe'ctingthe above'mentioned objects and other objects that will become apparent from an inverted'section of rail, which may be an old rail no longer usefulas a rail, by swaging or otherwise deforming. the head of therail section to' expand themetal horizontally at the end portionsof the tieand verti cally at the central portions, thus producing wide bearing surfaces for the tie-on the road bed under'the rails andnarrow bearing surfaces the central portions of the" tie,

whereby. any tendency of the" tie to form center bound track' is eliminated, the strength of the rail section as a beam is not impaired, and other advantageous and important results are effected. V

Referring. to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. .1 is a top plan View of a metal tieembo dying. the invention Fig. 2 1s a side elevatlon; Fig. 3 1s a PGISPGUUVGVLLGW,

Figswl ando are respectively cross sec tions on lines 4- 1 and 5-5 of Fig.- 2;

Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively. a top plan view and a side elevation of a modified form of the invention;

Figs. 8 and 9 are a top plan view and a side elevation ofanother modification; and Fig. 10 is aside elevation of still another modification;

Referring first to the form of invention-illustrated by Figs. 1 to 5, .the tie is -formed from a section of rail.@ The head 10 of the rail forms the base of the tie, while the base flanges 11 of the rail form the top of the tie.

That is, the rail is inverted-in its use'as a tie.

The tie is formed by gradually expand ing the head 10 horizontally from points 12 and from points at ornear the ends of the tie, to points13 located directly under the rail to be supported; by gradually expandingthe metal of the head vertically from points 12 to'points' 14 located at either side of the center of the tie and uniformly from these points; and finally by expanding the entire metal of thesection, the head, the web and the flanges between points l llongitudinally, the metal displaced in this last operation causing elongation of the rail section.

The tie produced by the above method provides wide bearing surfaces on the road bed under therails. and narrow surfaces at the centralparts-of the tie, thus eliminating. any tendency of. the tie'inuse to form center bound track. Due to the gradual flattening of the head towards points 13 directly;

7 ,under the rails, the base of the tie slopes hereinafter, 1 provide a cross he formed downwards from these points towards the ends and center of the tie, so' that the road g bedconforming to these surfacesfacilitates drainage from beneath the rails, an important resultin'the matter of road upkeep.

Finally the expansion of the metal'at the central portions of the tie is utilized economically in lengthening the tie, so that the,-

tie can be made from a shorter section of rail than would otherwise be possible, while atthe same time, the displaced metal does not weaken the tie as a beam, asthe increased depth of the. tie at the central portions more than 1 compensates for the metal displaced.- lVhere conditions make it desirable to have drainage from the ends ofthe tie totheceir ter of the track, the tie may be given the form shown in Figs. 6 and 7. In this modification, the head-10 of therailsectionis flattened horizontally from the ends in a gradually decreasingdegree to points 15,

and from these points the headis'expanded vertically in a gradually increasing degree to points 16 equispaced from the=centerand uniformly from these points to the center; Between points16 the entire metal of the tie may i be expanded "longitudinally to increase the length of the section. As will bev clear from the drawing, this method produces'a tie having: wide spatulate bases at the end portions, with maximumwvidth at the ere treme ends, and intermediate portions which gradually contract in width and, increase in depth'towards the center. here ties of this form, are employed, drainage willbe effected from the ends of thetiestowards the center of the roadbed, as'will becleanfrom an inspection. of'Fig. 7. g

The modification shown in Figs." 8 and-'9, is particularly adapted forms with curved track. flew the head ofKt-he rail section formingthe tie is flattened uniformly from the ends to points 18 well on the inside of the rails; from points 18 the head is flattened in a decreasing degree to points 19, and be tween these points the head is expanded vertically in a gradually increasing degree towards the center of the tie. The tie thus produced has at its ends wide fiat bases located in the same plane, whereby the tie may properly rest on the roadbed in the inclined position required to provide the necessary superelevation of the outer rail. In this form of tie drainage is ellected towards the center of the track and towards the lower end of the tie.

Fig. shows a tie embodying the invention so formed as to facilitate resurfacing the rails, or bringing them to a true level. In this form, the rail section from which the tie is made is bent about a central point, so that the rail supporting surfaces of the tie lie in inclined planes which converge and intersect in a line parallel to the rails cen trally between the same. The rails are supported on the horizontal top surfaces of wedge blocks 20 which have inclined surfaces resting on the inclined tops of the tie. These wedge blocks may be adjustably fixed to the tie in any suitable manner. It is obvious that by moving wedge blocks 20 inwardly or outwardly, the rails may be raised or lowered whenever required to bring them to a true level. In this modification, the tie may be formed by expanding the head of the rail section horizontally and uniformly throughout the length of the rail section, and expanding the metal vertically and longitudinally between the points 22 and 23 to strengthen the tie as a beam and increase the length of the section by the metal longitudinally displaced.

The invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms diiierent from those described herein, and it is therefore not intended to limit the invention in its broad aspect to any of the specific forms illustrated.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A metal railroad tie having a base sloping downwardly starting from points directly under the rails, to facilitate drainage.

2. A metal railroad tie having a base sloping downwardly and outwardly starting from points directly under the rails.

23. A metal railroad tie having a base sloping downwardly towards the center and sides or" the roadbed starting from points directly under the rails.

4. A metal railroad tie having wide bases at the end portions gradually merging into a narrow base atthe intermediate portion, the depth of the tie at said intermediate portion being considerably greater than at said end portions, whereby the strength of the tie as a beam is not impaired by the relatively thin cross section of said intermediate portion and drainage towards the center of the road bed is facilltated.

5. A metal railroad tie consisting of an inverted rail section, the head of which is expanded horizontally atthe end portions to provide bearing surfaces on the road bed and expanded vertically intermediate the end portions.

6. A metal railroad tie consisting of an inverted rail section, the head of which is expanded horizontally at the end portions to provide bearing surfaces on the road bed and vertically intermediate said end portions, the entire metal of said section being expanded longitudinally at intermediate portions to increase the length of the section.

7. A metal railroad tie consisting of an inverted rail section, the head of said section being expanded horizontally in a gradually increasing degree from intermediate points and from points adjacent the ends of the section to points directly under the rails supported by the tie, and being contracted horizontally in a gradually increasing degree from said intermediate points to points at either side of the center and being expanded vertically between said last named points.

8. A metal railroad tie consisting of an inverted rail section, the head of which is expanded horizontally in a gradually increasing degree from intermediate points and from points adjacent the ends of the section to points directly under the rails and contracted horizontally in a gradually increasing degree from said intermediate points to points at either side of the center, and expanded vertically between said last named points, the entire metal of the section being expanded longitudinally between said last named points.

9. The method of forming a cross tie from a section of old rail, which comprises expanding the metal of the head horizontally at the end portions to provide wide bases beneath the rails and vertically at the intermediate part of the section to increase the strength of the section as a beam.

10. The method of forming a cross tie from a section of rail, which comprises expanding the metal of the head horizontally at the end portions to provide wide bases beneath the rails, expanding the head vertically at the intermediate part of the section to increase the strength of the section as a beam, and expanding the entire metal of the section longitudinally at said intermediate part to increase the length of the section.

11. The method of forming a cross tie from a section of rail, which comprises expanding the metal of the head horizontally and in a gradually decreasing degree from points near the ends of the section to intermediate points, expanding the head vertically in a gradually increasing degree to points at either side of the center of the section and uniformly from said points to the center.

12. The method of forming a cross t-ie from a section of rail, Which comprises expanding the metal of the head horizontally and in a gradually decreasing degree from points near the ends of the section to intermediate points expanding the head vertically in a gradually increasing degree to points at either side of the center of the section and uniformly from said points'to the center and expanding the entire metal-0f the section between said last named points longitudinally to increase the length of the section.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

WILLIAM G. COUGHLIN. 

